A group of teenage girls passed us in the park today. They were laughing and carrying on like any such group would do anywhere in the world. But one of them was wearing a black Muslim head scarf. At first I thought, “It must be hard for her to wear that here in this Western culture.” But on second thought I realized that here in London, she is certainly not the only one at her school or among her friends that wear distinctively Muslim clothing. Some boroughs of London are over 30 percent Muslim. The London Central Mosque is located just down the road from us, as is one of the major London synagogues, and the American School. Our neighborhood is cosmopolitan.
I love this. I love the fact that this young woman in Primrose Hill on a lovely Saturday afternoon has the courage, the community and the faith to wear clothes that say to me, “I love Allah and I love Mohammed enough to do this. Or at least I love my family enough to do this. I am a part of my family. I am willing to look different from others. I am willing to make a small sacrifice.”
In London today, where would a young agnostic head if she thought there might be more than this life? If she thought to herself, when I look into someone’s eyes I am certain I see more than just light sensory mechanisms. In London, practicing Muslims are the most obvious example of people living for a higher purpose – not Christians. Wearing modest Islamic dress or not drinking alcohol says “There is more to life than just this life.”
It is not unheard of these days to see Western women who have converted to Islam. The ones interviewed on TV have shared that Islamic culture does not assign a value to women based on appearances. Islamic culture asks modesty of its women in order to protect them and shield them from a society that says your worth depends on how attractive you are and how much skin you are willing to show.
Most Christians in the Western world do not believe in standing out, in looking different or making sacrifices. The particular vein of American Christianity in which I grew up almost pretended that no sacrifices were needed. For all intents and purposes you could be just like everyone else. Big car, successful business, good looking, large home, eat whatever you want. Sexual restraint and swearing less were probably the two areas where we were not to live secularly. But statistics show that evangelical Christians are equally likely if not more likely to get up to sexual no good and to divorce than non-Christians. Practically, there is no distinction between Christian culture and American culture at large. Good Christians strive to do basically the same things that any good person would do.
Many Churches these days are obsessed with being culturally relevant. They may decry immorality at large but they are torn between being culturally relevant and culturally critical. They want it both ways. Some of them are guilty of peddling a form of Christianity that is more akin to mass entertainment than communal worship.
The early church was not like this. Classic Christianity encouraged Christians to make little sacrifices all the time. This led us to be different from the world around us. It encouraged us to fast, not individualistically, but in accordance with the recommended fasts of the Church calendar. It asked us to mark ourselves and creation with the ultimate sign of Christ – the sign of the Cross. It asked us to physically demonstrate our love of Christ by kissing His image and that of His mother. Doing these things as the church has suggested excercises our ascetic muscles. It trains us little by little to carry our Cross and to do the right thing in all areas of life. Holy means “set apart”. The Ancient Church asked us to set ourselves apart. Maybe we should try to live more this way today.
